风声鹤唳 fēng shēng hè lì Wind and Crane Cry

Explanation

这个成语的意思是形容人十分害怕，像听到风声和鹤叫声一样，以为是敌人来了，比喻人心惶惶，自相惊扰。

The idiom means to describe people who are very afraid, like hearing the wind and the cry of cranes, thinking that the enemy is coming. It is a metaphor for people being in a state of panic and disturbing each other.

Origin Story

东晋时期，前秦国王苻坚率领大军南下，企图灭掉东晋，东晋宰相谢安派谢石为征讨大都督，率领军队迎战。苻坚率领军队兵临城下，但看到东晋军队整齐的阵势，心中有些害怕，于是命令士兵在夜晚鸣金收兵。然而，秦军士兵却被自己的举动吓坏了，误以为东晋军队已经杀到，纷纷抛弃兵器，四散而逃，一路奔逃，听到风声或鹤叫声，都以为是追兵，最终酿成大败。这就是成语“风声鹤唳”的由来，用来形容人心惶惶，自相惊扰的景象。

dōng jìn shí qī, qián qín guó wáng fú jiān shuài lǐng dà jūn nán xià, qǐ tú miè diào dōng jìn, dōng jìn zǎi xiàng xiè ān pài xiè shí wéi zhēng討 dà dū dū, shuài lǐng jūn duì yíng zhàn. fú jiān shuài lǐng jūn duì bīng lín chéng xià, dàn kàn dào dōng jìn jūn duì zhěng qí de zhèn shì, xīn zhōng yǒu xiē hài pà, yú shì mìng lìng bīng shì zài yè wǎn míng jīn shōu bīng. rán ér, qín jūn bīng shì què bèi zì jǐ de jǔ dòng xià huài le, wù yǐ wéi dōng jìn jūn duì yǐ jīng shā dào, fēn fēn pāo qì bīng qì, sì sàn ér táo, yī lù bēn táo, tīng dào fēng shēng huò hè jiào shēng, dōu yǐ wéi shì zhuī bīng, zuì zhōng niàng chéng dà bài. zhè jiù shì chéng yǔ

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the King of Former Qin, Fu Jian, led his army south to destroy the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Xie An, the Prime Minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, appointed Xie Shi as the commander-in-chief of the punitive expedition to fight the enemy. Fu Jian led his troops to the gates of the city, but when he saw the well-ordered ranks of the Eastern Jin army, he became a little afraid, so he ordered his soldiers to withdraw at night. However, the Qin soldiers were scared by their own actions, mistakenly believing that the Eastern Jin army had already attacked. They threw away their weapons and fled in all directions. During their flight, they took every noise, even the rustling of the wind or the call of a crane, as pursuit. Ultimately, they suffered a devastating defeat. From this arose the idiom „Wind and Crane Cry“, which describes an atmosphere of fear and panic where people scare each other.

Usage

这个成语一般用于形容人们在战乱或危难情况下，由于过度恐惧而产生的一种心理状态，表现为缺乏冷静思考，容易被各种风吹草动所惊吓，从而做出错误的判断和行动。

zhè ge chéng yǔ yī bān yòng yú xíng róng rén men zài zhàn luàn huò wēi nàn qíng kuàng xià, yóu yú guò dù kǒng jù ér chǎn shēng de yī zhǒng xīn lǐ zhuàng tài, biǎo xiàn wéi quē fá lěng jìng sī kǎo, róng yì bèi gè zhǒng fēng chuī cǎo dòng suǒ jīng xià, cóng ér zuò chū cuò wù de pàn duàn hé xíng dòng.

This idiom is generally used to describe a psychological state that people experience in times of war or crisis, due to excessive fear. It is characterized by a lack of calm thinking, making them easily frightened by any wind or movement, thus leading to wrong judgments and actions.

Examples

• 敌军兵临城下，守城士兵却风声鹤唳，人心惶惶。

  dí jūn bīng lín chéng xià, shǒu chéng shì bīng què fēng shēng hè lì, rén xīn huáng huáng.

  The enemy army was at the gates of the city, but the defending soldiers were panicking and fearful.

• 这场毫无准备的突袭，让敌军风声鹤唳，草木皆兵。

  zhè chǎng háo wú zhǔn bèi de tū xí, ràng dí jūn fēng shēng hè lì, cǎo mù jiē bīng

  The unexpected attack made the enemy army nervous and afraid of everything.

Related Idioms

• 草木皆兵

• 惊弓之鸟

Opposite Idioms

• 风平浪静

• 安如泰山